My name is Pete, I have been gleaning information off this forum for a few months as I have been busy importing my Highlander into Thailand. I was able to meet a few of you at Sun and Fun this year. I purchased my plane (#172) from Lynn G (Central Florida Sport Air), who I can't say enough good things about! She really helped me so much in getting my plane to the intial shipping point, and letting me spend some time at her airfield before that.

My plane was packed into a container at Lakeland Airport by Neel Aviation. Those guys really know their job, since that is all they do....dismantle and ship aircraft overseas. They told me they have even had containers flip over, and the plane was undamaged. I believe them after seeing how they pack. After about a month and a half in transit, my plane arrived to the Bangkok port just as perfect as it was in Lakeland. The ship sailed from Savannah, through the Suez Canal to Malaysia, where it was then put on a smaller ship to Bangkok.

Luckily I was fortunate to get linked up with an experienced shipping lady here who knew everyone at the Port, and knew how to negoiate all the red tape involved. The plane was a big hit with the customs people when they opened the container. Everyone wanted a pic of "The Plane in the Container". Even the big boss had to come down to get his photo taken with it. After that was done it was trucked up to the airfield/aero club I am keeping the plane at. Once it was downloaded to the ground, we had it unloaded and in the hanger in no time.

After 2-3 days of putting the parts back together, and doing some other work on the airplane, I was able to finally at least start it up and taxi it around. Even that was a lot of fun after waiting so long to get it over here. The locals are all in awe of the plane, especially the HUGE tires. They can't wait to get a ride in it, and see it flying. I can't wait to make that happen either!

I have been knocking down the hurdles to get it inspected for an Airworthiness Cert and now I am just waiting on permission to take it on a test flight for finalization of the C of A. Then will come the registration. In the mean time have been having a lot of fun doing some upgrades and modifications on the plane.

This plane is going to be just perfect for Thailand. There are many great small strips in every corner of the country, and what better way to see such a wonderful country then with a Highlander! I hope to be able to add more pics once I get flying. Here are some pics thus far.

I am really looking forward to post some pics of this plane's adventures around Thailand in the future. Unfortunately that might have to wait few months. A combination of waiting on Red Tape, and my having to do some traveling for a few months. Hopefully, we can get the C of A test flight soon. Still working on a few upgrades to the interior. Will post when complete.

Helmetfire, Lynn did not paint this one, the factory did. However Lynn did add the Highlander logo, and the green stripe among other things. I like the paint scheme...nice and simple!

Took the seats to my motorcycle seat repair guy, and they came out a lot better then I thought for $140. He put some leather at the top to prevent seatbelt chafing, and beefed up the bottom to add some comfort and a little higher seat height.

Reworked the cargo compartment with some carbon-look material from the motorcycle seat guy. Glued about a 10in piece of just material along the top so it could fit under the flap pulleys, and not interfere with any cables. Wrapped that push pull tube cover with some thin foam, and then the carbon material. Made foam covered pieces for each side of the cargo compartment which are removable.